Meeting the palliative care needs of people with non-cancer conditions

摘要

This edition of the International Journal of Palliative Nursing draws together an impressive body of opinion about the age-old problem facing all economies around the world: how to fairly allocate scarce resources to deal with the complex healthcare needs of the population in a palliative context. There is a sad, but very real paradox associated with dying from a condition other than cancer. This is a paradox many readers will be familiar with, and is central to the dilemma in which caregivers and governments alike find themselves. A diagnosis of cancer is the catalyst for an army of services via the NHS and multiple charities to mobilise and support the person and their family through all stages of diagnosis, treatment, end-of-life care and beyond. The UK in particular is a leader in developing such services, notably via mainly charitable humanitarian ventures such as the development of hospice care and also the specialist nursing role, which has transformed the care of cancer sufferers in many environments. The money needed to maintain and grow such services has escalated into the hundreds of millions of pounds each year.